Surprise! So-called “frost proof” water faucets will freeze and split internally if a hose is left attached over the winter. However, this hidden rupture won’t be noticed until AFTER an unsuspecting cleaner hooks his hose up and turns on the faucet. So while the carpets are getting cleaning upstairs the home’s lower level is being inundated from the ruptured tubing hidden inside the wall. (Don’t ask me how I learned this!) Time to change your procedures …
Buy a female cap with a rubber hose washer inside that will thread on any faucet bib. After tightening the cap on the hose bib briefly turn on the faucet slightly and listen closely. (You can also keep your hand on the faucet to feel the vibration of running water.) If you can hear (or feel) running water the faucet has an internal rupture inside the wall. Turn it off immediately, inform the homeowner and find your water supply elsewhere.
Bonus TIP: Be very cautious early in the spring time with an outside hose bib that appears to have had a hose attached to it all winter. Very likely it is an “accident waiting to happen”. I know I did way too many “free water damage losses” and replaced too many hose faucets that the homeowner was sure had “burst due to your cleaning pressure”.
So be very, very careful and test all water faucets with your cap until later in the season when the home owner has discovered the broken faucet on their own when watering their lawn. After all, when the home owner floods their own home it then becomes a PAID water loss that you can make big money on!
Steve Toburen
P.S: You may not have flooded the customer’s home … yet! But all of us have accidentally created a horror story or two out on the job. So please share your “tale of woe” in the comments below!
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We had a water loss last week that was caused by a frost free faucet. We dried the structure and started the repairs. The flooring guy started laying tile and laid the first four hundred feet for the day and started cleaning his equipment when the home owner showed up and said that they still did not have the faucet fixed. The tile guys jaw dropped, said he was sorry and called me. When we started under the house to inspect what was wet we found 18 inches of water in the crawl space. Not just a corner or two the entire crawl space. We did the math set our pumps and pumped water for several hours and dried the structure again.
One of our Mytee portables started leaking on a clients hardwood floor on the middle level while the tech was upstairs cleaning the carpets. By the time the homeowner noticed it was running down a vent through the basement ceiling. The Mytee portables have a plastic filter which freezes easily. But sometimes this isn’t apparent until the crack expands after a few jobs. Unfortunately, the client wouldn’t allow us to rectify the water damage. She called ServiceMasher and we got the bill for $2,500 from a job we made $250.
Ouch, Tom! I feel your pain- really! Sorry to hear this.
Steve
PS At this point I can’t do much more than tell you what I do when disaster strikes. 1) Change our procedures so that THIS particular problem never happens again and 2) move on! (And I remind myself that damages are TAX DEDUCTIBLE!)
NOTE to Eric: Now a loss like that is what I call “double dipping”. I would say to warn homeowners to FIX the problem before letting contractors in. But that just might be “shooting yourself in the foot”!
Yes I did! – A water damage loss for free….
My solution was to invest in a BRASS water hose shut off valve and attached it to the end of my hose. I always turn on the water and listen first – before I open the valve.
It also is a bonus to turn off the valve before disconnecting the hose – I avoid a cold shower!